Wednesday, January 7, 2026, 7:20 p.m.
The Madrid derby caused the first serious injury of the Xabi Alonso era. Since that painful 5-2 at the Metropolitano at the end of September, corresponding to the seventh day of the League, something began to go wrong in the promising start of the new stage on the white bench. Real Madrid, who arrived as leaders at the Colchonero fiefdom, were affected by the first setback with the Basque coach at the helm, beyond the resounding defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals of the Club World Cup, a tournament that, in any case, the Tolosarra has always considered as part of the previous season.
The second duel against the great citizen rival has a very different aspect for Xabi Alonso. He arrives at the Super Cup still seriously questioned despite having won four consecutive victories since the defeat against Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Bernabéu, which put him on the brink of the precipice. A convincing performance in the tournament, especially with the title in hand, would serve to close several weeks of anxiety, with a few games turned into ultimatums. At least for a while.
The Real Madrid noble plant has this Super Cup marked in red on the calendar, a true test of cotton given the entity of the rivals, with a derby in the semifinals that has a lot of test and just as much revenge. To open his particular revalidation, Xabi Alonso will not have Kylian Mbappé, but he has found an unexpected argument with the outstanding emergence of Gonzalo.
The youth squad responded to the challenge in the absence of the Frenchman with a hat-trick against Betis. A textbook header, one of his great virtues, a volley with his right foot from a distance and a backheel with his left foot to round off a performance that has placed him on the runway just before the first official trophy of the campaign. Huge performance by a footballer who had already knocked down the door of the first white team in the Club World Cup, with four goals in six games as a starter that earned him the title of top scorer of the new tournament, the showcase that helped him make the leap from a Castilla team in which he had scored 25 goals in the First Federation.
The young striker from Madrid is, along with Rodrygo’s obvious improvement, the best news of Real Madrid’s recent games, which have allowed them to right the course, at least in terms of results. The large victory against Betis (5-1), larger in terms of numbers than in terms of football, invites continuity in the eleven, with a midfield reinforced by the physique of Tchouaméni and Camavinga who, however, still lacks the ability to control the games, as demonstrated again by certain minutes of doubt after Cucho Hernández’s goal from Betis at the Bernabéu.
Despite Huijsen’s recovery, the Spanish international’s lack of training places the centre-back pair formed by Asencio and Rüdiger in the theoretical initial lineup, with the wild card Valverde and Carreras on the wing. For his part, Vinicius, whistled again in Chamartín, has in an a priori less demanding scenario although favorable to Madrid another opportunity to vindicate himself, as he did in the 2024 final with a hat-trick against Barça, after a streak of 15 consecutive games without punching the opponent’s goal.
turning point
Face an Atlético that returns to the Super Cup after its absence in 2025 and that under the current format only surpassed the semifinals in 2020, in the first edition played in Saudi Arabia. Like two years ago, in 2023, Real Madrid is on the path to the first title of the season, an important stimulus and a turning point in the face of an irregular league dynamic that has distanced the red and whites by eleven points from Barça, leader of the classification in the regularity tournament.
With Lenglet and Nico González injured, Pablo Barrios is practically ruled out for the derby, which opens the doors of the eleven to Gallagher or Cardoso, hypothetical companions of captain Koke, the man of record in the duels of maximum rivalry between the Madrid giants.
In the red and white forward, Sorloth, scorer against Real Sociedad in Anoeta, and Julián Álvarez, who has only two goals in the last ten games and whose best version seems essential for Simeone’s men to lift the first trophy of the campaign in Jeddah, are expected.
-Probable alignments:
Real Madrid: Courtois, valleis, sencio, rüdiger, races, caminga, tchouameneni, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Gonzalo and Vinicius.
Atlético: Oblak, Llorente, Pubill, Le Normand, Hancko, Giuliano, Koke, Gallagher, Baena, Julián Álvarez y Sorloth.
Referee: Mateo Busquets Ferrer (Balearic Islands).
Estadio: King Abdullah Sports City (Yeda).
Time and TV: 8:00 p.m. Movistar Plus LaLiga.
